SMi’s 2nd Annual ConferenceOphthalmic DrugsNovember 26th-27th, 2018 | London, United Kingdom
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As the global population ages, the incidence of ophthalmic disorders continues to grow, and thus the interest of pharmaceutical and biotech companies is increasingly focused towards innovation of novel approaches for the development of ophthalmic drugs, driving the growth of this market. In fact, the global ophthalmic drug market is projected to reach £30 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2017 to 2023 (Via *Allied Market Research)

Join industry experts from Roche, Santen, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, MHRA, Nightstar Therapeutics and more to discuss and analyze the latest advancements and challenges within ophthalmic drug development. Network with industry professionals, explore novel approaches to treatment of ocular diseases, gain insight into ongoing clinical trials, discover how technology is revolutionising pharmaceutical R&D, and get invaluable advice on how to enhance development and overcome challenges within the industry.

Developing on last years success, this must-attend conference will bring together industry experts to discuss and analyse the latest advancements and challenges within ophthalmic drug development. Some notable areas of interest have been neuroprotection in ophthalmology, advancements in gene therapy, AMD clinical trial updates, and novel approaches for delivery of ocular drugs. Join us to network with ophthalmic experts from top pharmaceutical companies.

---------------------------------------------------------------Exclusive Q&A sessions with speakers on the latest developments within the Ophthalmic Drugs field
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Conference
programme

8:30 Registration & Coffee

9:00 Chairman's Opening Remarks

Naj Sharif, PhD, FARVO, FBPhS was educated and trained in England at Southampton University (BSc (Joint Honors: Biochemistry and Physiology); PhD (Neuroscience)). His pharmaceutical industry experience (>32 years) includes holding leadership positions in discovery research, drug development and regulatory affairs at Pfizer, Syntex (Roche), Alcon-Novartis and Santen. His 22-tenure at Alcon resulted in his contributions to the discovery/development and US FDA approvals of Travatan®, Patanol®, Simbrinza®, and Pazeo® to treat glaucoma/ocular hypertension and ocular allergies. At Santen he has contributed towards the in-licensing and acquisition of InnFocus Microshunt, and to various drug candidates. He is a Fellow of ARVO (FARVO), and of British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS). Dr. Sharif received the inaugural Dr. Roger Vogel Award for ocular pharmaceutical research, and the “Sir James Black Award” for contributions to drug discovery. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals, and is an Adjunct Professor at several Universities. He has published >210 papers, edited 2 books, and is the holder of 23 issued patents.

9:10 New strategies for treating retinal vascular diseases

Prof Stitt is the McCauley Chair of Experimental Ophthalmology in Queen’s University Belfast. Prof Stitt’s research is in the inter-related areas of diabetic retinopathy, retinal angiogenesis and microvascular biology. His work has uncovered some key pathogenic pathways involved in neuroglial and microvascular dysfunction in the diabetic retina and this has led to the development and testing of several compounds that have progressed to clinical trials. He holds a Royal Society Wolfson Merit award and is the Editor of Current Eye Research, an Associate Editor for Diabetologia and currently sits on several other editorial board and panels.

Overview for pathogenesis of ischaemic retinopathies

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of diseases

Targeting new pathways

Positioning preclinical evidence in the clinical setting to aid translation

Conclusions and future directions

9:50 Gene delivery & gene editing in the retina

Abraham Scaria, Vice President Head of Ophthalmology, Casebia TherapeuticsView Bio

Dr. Scaria obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. He did postdoctoral training at St. Louis University School of Medicine working on RNA splicing mechanisms in adenoviruses and virus-host interactions. Dr. Scaria then worked as a Senior Fellow at University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle before joining Genzyme Corporation to work on gene therapy for Cystic Fibrosis. At Genzyme and later at Sanofi-Genzyme, Dr. Scaria held various positions with increasing responsibilities for two decades finally heading up both the gene therapy research group and the ophthalmology research efforts. Currently, Dr. Scaria is the VP & Head of Ophthalmology at Casebia Therapeutics where he is developing gene-editing based therapies for ocular genetic diseases.

Overview of methods for “in vivo” delivery to the retina

Gene delivery to different cell types in the retina

Crispr/Cas9 mediated gene editing in the retina

10:30 Morning Coffee

11:00 New horizon for treatment of inherited retinal distrophy

Dr. Chung is the Ophthalmology Lead for Clinical Development and Clinical R and D at Spark Therapeutics and the company’s inherited retinal disease resource. He also served as Spark’s Medical Affairs Ophthalmic Lead. In his current role, he works in the areas of clinical development and operations, marketing, commercial, patient advocacy, pre-clinical research and development and business development. Prior to joining Spark Therapeutics, he was a senior investigator/instructor at the FM Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, working in retinal gene transfer and therapy. Concurrently, he served as the scientific advisor on the RPE65 gene therapy study team for phase 1 and 3 of the clinical trial at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He was the lead designer of the Phase 3 MLMT novel endpoint, PI of the MLMT study, and PI of the RPE65 Natural History Study. He completed his ophthalmology residency in Akron, Ohio. He then completed fellowships in pediatric ophthalmology and ocular genetics research at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, and was a retinal gene therapy fellow at the National Eye Institute/NIH in Bethesda, MD

Voretigene: The first gene therapy approved in ophthalmology

Other up-coming gene therapy trials in the pipeline

Market access difficulties for gene therapy

11:40 Current unmet needs for geographic atrophy- where are we now and where should we go?

12:20 New ophthalmic drug delivery technologies

Jens Peters is responsible for the development of drug delivery devices at Aero Pump GmbH, such as the preservative-free Ophthalmic Multidose System. He was educated and trained at Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel (Germany) where he completed his degree in physics.
Jens started his professional career at Ursatec Verpackung GmbH, an innovative company in the field of preservative-free pump systems for medicinal applications. In 1999 he moved to Ursatec’s holding company Aero Pump where he took over the responsibility as R&D director.

Preservative-free medications

Metered dose droppers

Fine mist spray technology for the opened eye

13:00 Networking Lunch

14:00 Ora – A unique partner with a global reach

Dr. Simon Chandler heads European BD for Ora, Europe and is Head of Gene and Cell based therapies for Ora Inc. He is based in the UK and holds a Ph.D. in epigenetics and molecular biology and from the University of Southampton. Ora is the world’s leading partner for ophthalmic pharmaceutical and device development, with expertise in a broad range of ophthalmic indications and offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan

Development of therapies for IRDs

Dry Eye and the Ora capabilities

Device support

14:15 Genetically defined therapies in dry AMD

Soraya Bekkali is a board-certified MD graduated from Paris University specialized in Clinical Pharmacology and Biostatistics with 20 years of experience in Drug Development.
She started her career in the academia before joining the industry with Orphan Europe, in the rare disease space. She then joined Sanofi for 9 years where she held increasing leadership positions within global R&D, leading gene therapy programs in cardiovascular and Ophthalmology. She took over the leadership of the Ophthalmology Division in 2012 and in this capacity, drove Sanofi strategy towards ocular gene therapy efforts while setting up a multidisciplinary R&D and business organization. In 2015, Soraya served as SVP CMO at Lysogene, a biotech developing gene therapy treatment for rare CNS disorders. As a member of the executive team, she contributed to the successful listing of Lysogene on the European Stock Exchange Euronext. Mid 2017, Soraya Bekkali was appointed at CEO and Director of the board of Gyroscope Therapeutics Ltd, a private company founded by Syncona and Cambridge Enterprise and supported by its scientific founders with expertise in ophthalmology, immunology and gene therapy.
The company is headquartered the UK. Its mission is to develop genetically-defined therapies for the treatment of eye diseases linked to an unbalanced complement system, such as dry age related macular degeneration using gene therapy as a mode of treatment delivery.

Role of genetics in dry AMD

Gyroscopes approach to the treatment of dry AMD

Optimized drug delivery

14:55 The future of ophthalmic delivery: preservative-free and connected devices

Fanny Sellier is responsible for developing the ophthalmic products at Nemera, including the new innovative preservative-free technology Novelia®. Fanny joined the company in 2011. A graduate from the ISEG business school in Strasbourg and the IUT de Chimie (chemical sciences) in Besancon. Fanny has worked seven years for Rhodia (now Solvay) in the U.S. in marketing, Lean enterprise and business development. She was then with BASF for a year in a marketing position managing products for the Home Care industry.

Understand the importance of patients’ adherence and the cause of the poor adherence today

Improve patients’ adherence by providing an easy to use, convenient and ergonomic system

15:35 Afternoon Tea

16:05 Drug delivery strategies for retinal diseases

Majid Anderesi is an ophthalmologist by training. Prior to joining Roche, he held international positions with Pfizer, Novartis, Bayer, and Allergan. Majid currently works at Roche as Associate Group Clinical Director in Ophthalmology and as a member of Global Science Team.

Drug delivery to the posterior ocular segment: Challenges

Diseases affecting the posterior segment

Conventional versus novel routes for the drug delivery to the posterior segment

Conclusion

16:45 soloMERs™ - site-specific biologics for ocular disease

Caroline is CEO and co-founder of Elasmogen, a company that discovers and develops soloMER biologics for site-specific treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer. Before establishing Elasmogen, she successfully led teams at Wyeth and subsequently Pfizer in Global Bio-therapeutic Technologies progressing early platform technologies to late stage clinical development. Prior to this she was Alliance and Programs Manager at Haptogen Ltd and a key part of the acquisition team that successfully exited the business to Wyeth. She is a doctoral graduate from the University of Aberdeen in Biochemistry and a master graduate in business (MBA) from Robert Gordon’s University.

Advantages of soloMERs

Isolation and characterisation of target specific soloMERs

Efficacy in pre-clinical models of disease

Elasmogen’s ocular portfolio

17:25 Chairman’s Closing Remarks and Close of Day One

Naj Sharif, PhD, FARVO, FBPhS was educated and trained in England at Southampton University (BSc (Joint Honors: Biochemistry and Physiology); PhD (Neuroscience)). His pharmaceutical industry experience (>32 years) includes holding leadership positions in discovery research, drug development and regulatory affairs at Pfizer, Syntex (Roche), Alcon-Novartis and Santen. His 22-tenure at Alcon resulted in his contributions to the discovery/development and US FDA approvals of Travatan®, Patanol®, Simbrinza®, and Pazeo® to treat glaucoma/ocular hypertension and ocular allergies. At Santen he has contributed towards the in-licensing and acquisition of InnFocus Microshunt, and to various drug candidates. He is a Fellow of ARVO (FARVO), and of British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS). Dr. Sharif received the inaugural Dr. Roger Vogel Award for ocular pharmaceutical research, and the “Sir James Black Award” for contributions to drug discovery. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals, and is an Adjunct Professor at several Universities. He has published >210 papers, edited 2 books, and is the holder of 23 issued patents.

8:30 Registration & Coffee

9:00 Chairman's Opening Remarks

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 5 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees, and went public on NASDAQ in 2013, where its current valuation is over $2 billion (US). Mitch is lead inventor on over 50 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs to his credit.

9:10 Glaucoma / retinoprotection treatments

Naj Sharif, PhD, FARVO, FBPhS was educated and trained in England at Southampton University (BSc (Joint Honors: Biochemistry and Physiology); PhD (Neuroscience)). His pharmaceutical industry experience (>32 years) includes holding leadership positions in discovery research, drug development and regulatory affairs at Pfizer, Syntex (Roche), Alcon-Novartis and Santen. His 22-tenure at Alcon resulted in his contributions to the discovery/development and US FDA approvals of Travatan®, Patanol®, Simbrinza®, and Pazeo® to treat glaucoma/ocular hypertension and ocular allergies. At Santen he has contributed towards the in-licensing and acquisition of InnFocus Microshunt, and to various drug candidates. He is a Fellow of ARVO (FARVO), and of British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS). Dr. Sharif received the inaugural Dr. Roger Vogel Award for ocular pharmaceutical research, and the “Sir James Black Award” for contributions to drug discovery. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals, and is an Adjunct Professor at several Universities. He has published >210 papers, edited 2 books, and is the holder of 23 issued patents.

Recently approved & novel drugs in view

Novel devices to lower & control IOP

A case for & pathways to retinoprotection

9:50 The discovery and SAR of Netarsudil, the first FDA-approved ROCK inhibitor for the treatment of glaucoma

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 5 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees, and went public on NASDAQ in 2013, where its current valuation is over $2 billion (US). Mitch is lead inventor on over 50 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs to his credit.

Need for new glaucoma medications after a period of focus on surgical treatment options

First FDA-approved ROCK inhibitor for the treatment of glaucoma

Future of the glaucoma landscape and back-of-the-eye disease

10:30 Morning Coffee

<p>Dr. Kaja joined Experimentica Ltd. as Chief Scientific Officer and Director North American Operations in August 2014. Dr. Kaja holds an academic appointment as Endowed Professor of Ophthalmology at Loyola University Chicago. He has previously held numerous positions in academia, biotech companies and the pharmaceutical industry and is a frequent consultant on drug discovery for ophthalmic disorders. In addition to his internationally recognized work on neurodegeneration and glaucoma, Dr. Kaja has significantly contributed to drug development for dry-eye disease and our understanding of the pathophysiology of migraine. Dr. Kaja earned his B.Sc. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Durham University (United Kingdom) and his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Leiden University (The Netherlands). <br /> &nbsp;</p>

Requirement for validated reference compounds for in vivo studies

Utility of imaging and electrophysiology modalities in ocular models

Challenges associated with implementing in vivo functional readouts

11:40 Application of artificial intelligence in drug discovery

Andrew A. Radin is Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of twoXAR, a company dedicated to transforming how large biological datasets are harnessed to accelerate the identification and validation of new medicines. Andrew developed the company’s proprietary algorithm and leads product development. Prior to co-founding twoXAR, Andrew held Chief Technology Officer roles at several early stage companies where he managed teams as large as a hundred technologists distributed around the world. Andrew studied biomedical informatics in Stanford University’s SCPD graduate program and holds Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in computer science from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Specific applications of predictive algorithms in drug research

How “predictions” translate into testable hypotheses and viable drug candidates

The future of artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery in ophthalmology

12:20 Networking Lunch

13:30 Regulatory considerations for clinical aspects of ocular drug development – established and surrogate end-points

Dr Peter Morgan-Warren is a Medical Assessor at the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. After graduating in medicine from University of Oxford, Peter worked as a Medical Officer for the Royal Air Force, with clinical practice in both primary and secondary care and additional aviation medicine/administrative roles. He then went on to undertake specialist clinical training in ophthalmology in the West Midlands, and was appointed as the inaugural Medical Research Council/Royal College of Ophthalmologists John Lee Fellow in 2012 for his doctoral research programme into the development of novel biotherapeutics for neuroprotection and regeneration for optic neuropathy. He was awarded his PhD from University of Birmingham in 2016. Peter is now a Medical Assessor at the MHRA, involved in the review and assessment of regulatory submission for national and European medicinal products, and contribution to scientific advice provision for clinical development programmes.

Overview of regulatory requirements for clinical approval of ophthalmic drugs

Trends in clinical trial efficacy end-points

Regulatory view on use of biomarkers and surrogate end-points in marketing authorisation submissions

David Silverman worked as an ophthalmologist in the UK before joining Quintiles to work in Phase 1 clinical trials. He subsequently spent nearly 6 years at the MHRA as a clinical assessor, reviewing applications and providing scientific advice for ophthalmic medicines for the UK and the EMA; he also served as a UK delegate on the CHMP’s Scientific Advice Working Party. David joined Roche in 2015, to work on ophthalmic global clinical development programs. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, and has an MSc in Economic Evaluation for Health Technology Assessment from the University of York.

Introduction to global payer requirements

HTA Core Model

Use of patient reported outcomes in ophthalmic clinical trials

Structuring clinical development plans to meet payer requirements

14:50 Afternoon Tea

Philip Ashman has worked in the pharmaceutical industry since completing his PhD. During this time, he has worked in numerous therapeutic areas, gaining experience in small and large pharmaceutical companies working a range of functions including clinical development, market access, sales and marketing. He joined Alimera Sciences in 2013 to lead the start-up of the organisation initially in Europe and more recently into the Middle East.

Review the development of practice in treatment of diabetic macular oedema

The challenges accepting innovation into everyday practice

The emergence of "Real-World" data collection and lessons learned

A look into the future

16:00 Natural history of disease studies in rare diseases

Aniz Girach, qualified as an Ophthalmologist (specialty in Retina), and worked in Cambridge (UK). After having spent 11 years in the NHS, he joined the pharmaceutical industry with Eli Lilly, focusing on retinal diseases. He has in total 22 years industry experience in roles with Merck (as their Global Head of Ophthalmology) and Alcon, where he was Vice President of Clinical Development, and ThromboGenics, where he was the Global Head of Ophthalmology/Chief Medical Officer overseeing the development and approval of Ocriplasmin (Jetrea)—a first in class biologic therapy for retinal disease. In addition to an Honorary Professorship at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, USA, he is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Nightstar Therapeutics, overseeing the development of gene therapies for inherited retinal diseases. He is a member of 3 Scientific Advisory Boards for international ophthalmic organizations currently, and reviewer for 5 peer-reviewed journals, including Eye and IOVS. He has edited 4 books and published over 60 abstracts/manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals in Ophthalmology, with numerous invited lectures at national/international ophthalmology meetings. His special interests are Medical Retina, Vitreomacular Interface Abnormalities and Gene Therapy.

The value of running Natural History of Disease studies, especially in rare diseases

Why run Natural History of Disease studies?

Regulatory aspects of running Natural History of Disease studies

Natural History of Disease studies as part of running Innovative trial designs

16:40 Chairman’s Closing Remarks and Close of Day Two

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 5 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees, and went public on NASDAQ in 2013, where its current valuation is over $2 billion (US). Mitch is lead inventor on over 50 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs to his credit.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Prof Stitt is the McCauley Chair of Experimental Ophthalmology in Queen’s University Belfast. Prof Stitt’s research is in the inter-related areas of diabetic retinopathy, retinal angiogenesis and microvascular biology. His work has uncovered some key pathogenic pathways involved in neuroglial and microvascular dysfunction in the diabetic retina and this has led to the development and testing of several compounds that have progressed to clinical trials. He holds a Royal Society Wolfson Merit award and is the Editor of Current Eye Research, an Associate Editor for Diabetologia and currently sits on several other editorial board and panels.

Dr. Chung is the Ophthalmology Lead for Clinical Development and Clinical R and D at Spark Therapeutics and the company’s inherited retinal disease resource. He also served as Spark’s Medical Affairs Ophthalmic Lead. In his current role, he works in the areas of clinical development and operations, marketing, commercial, patient advocacy, pre-clinical research and development and business development. Prior to joining Spark Therapeutics, he was a senior investigator/instructor at the FM Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, working in retinal gene transfer and therapy. Concurrently, he served as the scientific advisor on the RPE65 gene therapy study team for phase 1 and 3 of the clinical trial at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He was the lead designer of the Phase 3 MLMT novel endpoint, PI of the MLMT study, and PI of the RPE65 Natural History Study. He completed his ophthalmology residency in Akron, Ohio. He then completed fellowships in pediatric ophthalmology and ocular genetics research at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, and was a retinal gene therapy fellow at the National Eye Institute/NIH in Bethesda, MD

David Silverman worked as an ophthalmologist in the UK before joining Quintiles to work in Phase 1 clinical trials. He subsequently spent nearly 6 years at the MHRA as a clinical assessor, reviewing applications and providing scientific advice for ophthalmic medicines for the UK and the EMA; he also served as a UK delegate on the CHMP’s Scientific Advice Working Party. David joined Roche in 2015, to work on ophthalmic global clinical development programs. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, and has an MSc in Economic Evaluation for Health Technology Assessment from the University of York.

Majid Anderesi is an ophthalmologist by training. Prior to joining Roche, he held international positions with Pfizer, Novartis, Bayer, and Allergan. Majid currently works at Roche as Associate Group Clinical Director in Ophthalmology and as a member of Global Science Team.

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 5 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees, and went public on NASDAQ in 2013, where its current valuation is over $2 billion (US). Mitch is lead inventor on over 50 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs to his credit.

Naj Sharif, PhD, FARVO, FBPhS was educated and trained in England at Southampton University (BSc (Joint Honors: Biochemistry and Physiology); PhD (Neuroscience)). His pharmaceutical industry experience (>32 years) includes holding leadership positions in discovery research, drug development and regulatory affairs at Pfizer, Syntex (Roche), Alcon-Novartis and Santen. His 22-tenure at Alcon resulted in his contributions to the discovery/development and US FDA approvals of Travatan®, Patanol®, Simbrinza®, and Pazeo® to treat glaucoma/ocular hypertension and ocular allergies. At Santen he has contributed towards the in-licensing and acquisition of InnFocus Microshunt, and to various drug candidates. He is a Fellow of ARVO (FARVO), and of British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS). Dr. Sharif received the inaugural Dr. Roger Vogel Award for ocular pharmaceutical research, and the “Sir James Black Award” for contributions to drug discovery. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals, and is an Adjunct Professor at several Universities. He has published >210 papers, edited 2 books, and is the holder of 23 issued patents.

Dr Peter Morgan-Warren is a Medical Assessor at the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. After graduating in medicine from University of Oxford, Peter worked as a Medical Officer for the Royal Air Force, with clinical practice in both primary and secondary care and additional aviation medicine/administrative roles. He then went on to undertake specialist clinical training in ophthalmology in the West Midlands, and was appointed as the inaugural Medical Research Council/Royal College of Ophthalmologists John Lee Fellow in 2012 for his doctoral research programme into the development of novel biotherapeutics for neuroprotection and regeneration for optic neuropathy. He was awarded his PhD from University of Birmingham in 2016. Peter is now a Medical Assessor at the MHRA, involved in the review and assessment of regulatory submission for national and European medicinal products, and contribution to scientific advice provision for clinical development programmes.

Abraham Scaria

Vice President Head of Ophthalmology, Casebia Therapeutics

Dr. Scaria obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. He did postdoctoral training at St. Louis University School of Medicine working on RNA splicing mechanisms in adenoviruses and virus-host interactions. Dr. Scaria then worked as a Senior Fellow at University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle before joining Genzyme Corporation to work on gene therapy for Cystic Fibrosis. At Genzyme and later at Sanofi-Genzyme, Dr. Scaria held various positions with increasing responsibilities for two decades finally heading up both the gene therapy research group and the ophthalmology research efforts. Currently, Dr. Scaria is the VP & Head of Ophthalmology at Casebia Therapeutics where he is developing gene-editing based therapies for ocular genetic diseases.

Alan Stitt

Dean of Innovation and Impact, Queens University Belfast

Prof Stitt is the McCauley Chair of Experimental Ophthalmology in Queen’s University Belfast. Prof Stitt’s research is in the inter-related areas of diabetic retinopathy, retinal angiogenesis and microvascular biology. His work has uncovered some key pathogenic pathways involved in neuroglial and microvascular dysfunction in the diabetic retina and this has led to the development and testing of several compounds that have progressed to clinical trials. He holds a Royal Society Wolfson Merit award and is the Editor of Current Eye Research, an Associate Editor for Diabetologia and currently sits on several other editorial board and panels.

Andrew Radin

Co-Founder and CEO, TwoXAR

Andrew A. Radin is Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of twoXAR, a company dedicated to transforming how large biological datasets are harnessed to accelerate the identification and validation of new medicines. Andrew developed the company’s proprietary algorithm and leads product development. Prior to co-founding twoXAR, Andrew held Chief Technology Officer roles at several early stage companies where he managed teams as large as a hundred technologists distributed around the world. Andrew studied biomedical informatics in Stanford University’s SCPD graduate program and holds Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in computer science from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Aniz Girach

Chief Medical Officer, NightstarX

Aniz Girach, qualified as an Ophthalmologist (specialty in Retina), and worked in Cambridge (UK). After having spent 11 years in the NHS, he joined the pharmaceutical industry with Eli Lilly, focusing on retinal diseases. He has in total 22 years industry experience in roles with Merck (as their Global Head of Ophthalmology) and Alcon, where he was Vice President of Clinical Development, and ThromboGenics, where he was the Global Head of Ophthalmology/Chief Medical Officer overseeing the development and approval of Ocriplasmin (Jetrea)—a first in class biologic therapy for retinal disease. In addition to an Honorary Professorship at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, USA, he is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Nightstar Therapeutics, overseeing the development of gene therapies for inherited retinal diseases. He is a member of 3 Scientific Advisory Boards for international ophthalmic organizations currently, and reviewer for 5 peer-reviewed journals, including Eye and IOVS. He has edited 4 books and published over 60 abstracts/manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals in Ophthalmology, with numerous invited lectures at national/international ophthalmology meetings. His special interests are Medical Retina, Vitreomacular Interface Abnormalities and Gene Therapy.

Caroline Barelle

CEO/CSO, Elasmogen Ltd

Caroline is CEO and co-founder of Elasmogen, a company that discovers and develops soloMER biologics for site-specific treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer. Before establishing Elasmogen, she successfully led teams at Wyeth and subsequently Pfizer in Global Bio-therapeutic Technologies progressing early platform technologies to late stage clinical development. Prior to this she was Alliance and Programs Manager at Haptogen Ltd and a key part of the acquisition team that successfully exited the business to Wyeth. She is a doctoral graduate from the University of Aberdeen in Biochemistry and a master graduate in business (MBA) from Robert Gordon’s University.

Daniel Chung

Clinical Ophthalmic Lead, Spark Therapeutics

Dr. Chung is the Ophthalmology Lead for Clinical Development and Clinical R and D at Spark Therapeutics and the company’s inherited retinal disease resource. He also served as Spark’s Medical Affairs Ophthalmic Lead. In his current role, he works in the areas of clinical development and operations, marketing, commercial, patient advocacy, pre-clinical research and development and business development. Prior to joining Spark Therapeutics, he was a senior investigator/instructor at the FM Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, working in retinal gene transfer and therapy. Concurrently, he served as the scientific advisor on the RPE65 gene therapy study team for phase 1 and 3 of the clinical trial at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He was the lead designer of the Phase 3 MLMT novel endpoint, PI of the MLMT study, and PI of the RPE65 Natural History Study. He completed his ophthalmology residency in Akron, Ohio. He then completed fellowships in pediatric ophthalmology and ocular genetics research at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, and was a retinal gene therapy fellow at the National Eye Institute/NIH in Bethesda, MD

David Silverman

Senior Clinical Director, Ophthalmology, Roche

David Silverman worked as an ophthalmologist in the UK before joining Quintiles to work in Phase 1 clinical trials. He subsequently spent nearly 6 years at the MHRA as a clinical assessor, reviewing applications and providing scientific advice for ophthalmic medicines for the UK and the EMA; he also served as a UK delegate on the CHMP’s Scientific Advice Working Party. David joined Roche in 2015, to work on ophthalmic global clinical development programs. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, and has an MSc in Economic Evaluation for Health Technology Assessment from the University of York.

Fanny Sellier

Global Category Manager, Ophthalmic Products, NEMERA

Fanny Sellier is responsible for developing the ophthalmic products at Nemera, including the new innovative preservative-free technology Novelia®. Fanny joined the company in 2011. A graduate from the ISEG business school in Strasbourg and the IUT de Chimie (chemical sciences) in Besancon. Fanny has worked seven years for Rhodia (now Solvay) in the U.S. in marketing, Lean enterprise and business development. She was then with BASF for a year in a marketing position managing products for the Home Care industry.

Jens Peters

Reserach and Development, Aero Pump Gmbh

Jens Peters is responsible for the development of drug delivery devices at Aero Pump GmbH, such as the preservative-free Ophthalmic Multidose System. He was educated and trained at Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel (Germany) where he completed his degree in physics.
Jens started his professional career at Ursatec Verpackung GmbH, an innovative company in the field of preservative-free pump systems for medicinal applications. In 1999 he moved to Ursatec’s holding company Aero Pump where he took over the responsibility as R&D director.

Majid Anderesi

Associate Group Clinical Director Ophthalmology, Roche

Majid Anderesi is an ophthalmologist by training. Prior to joining Roche, he held international positions with Pfizer, Novartis, Bayer, and Allergan. Majid currently works at Roche as Associate Group Clinical Director in Ophthalmology and as a member of Global Science Team.

Mitchell de Long

Vice President, Chemistry, Aerie Pharmaceuticals

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 5 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees, and went public on NASDAQ in 2013, where its current valuation is over $2 billion (US). Mitch is lead inventor on over 50 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs to his credit.

Naj Sharif

Naj Sharif, PhD, FARVO, FBPhS was educated and trained in England at Southampton University (BSc (Joint Honors: Biochemistry and Physiology); PhD (Neuroscience)). His pharmaceutical industry experience (>32 years) includes holding leadership positions in discovery research, drug development and regulatory affairs at Pfizer, Syntex (Roche), Alcon-Novartis and Santen. His 22-tenure at Alcon resulted in his contributions to the discovery/development and US FDA approvals of Travatan®, Patanol®, Simbrinza®, and Pazeo® to treat glaucoma/ocular hypertension and ocular allergies. At Santen he has contributed towards the in-licensing and acquisition of InnFocus Microshunt, and to various drug candidates. He is a Fellow of ARVO (FARVO), and of British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS). Dr. Sharif received the inaugural Dr. Roger Vogel Award for ocular pharmaceutical research, and the “Sir James Black Award” for contributions to drug discovery. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals, and is an Adjunct Professor at several Universities. He has published >210 papers, edited 2 books, and is the holder of 23 issued patents.

Peter Morgan Warren

Medical Assessor, MHRA

Dr Peter Morgan-Warren is a Medical Assessor at the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. After graduating in medicine from University of Oxford, Peter worked as a Medical Officer for the Royal Air Force, with clinical practice in both primary and secondary care and additional aviation medicine/administrative roles. He then went on to undertake specialist clinical training in ophthalmology in the West Midlands, and was appointed as the inaugural Medical Research Council/Royal College of Ophthalmologists John Lee Fellow in 2012 for his doctoral research programme into the development of novel biotherapeutics for neuroprotection and regeneration for optic neuropathy. He was awarded his PhD from University of Birmingham in 2016. Peter is now a Medical Assessor at the MHRA, involved in the review and assessment of regulatory submission for national and European medicinal products, and contribution to scientific advice provision for clinical development programmes.

Philip Ashman

Senior Vice President, Managing Director Europe, Alimera Sciences

Philip Ashman has worked in the pharmaceutical industry since completing his PhD. During this time, he has worked in numerous therapeutic areas, gaining experience in small and large pharmaceutical companies working a range of functions including clinical development, market access, sales and marketing. He joined Alimera Sciences in 2013 to lead the start-up of the organisation initially in Europe and more recently into the Middle East.

Simon Chandler

Senior Director , Ora Europe Ltd

Dr. Simon Chandler heads European BD for Ora, Europe and is Head of Gene and Cell based therapies for Ora Inc. He is based in the UK and holds a Ph.D. in epigenetics and molecular biology and from the University of Southampton. Ora is the world’s leading partner for ophthalmic pharmaceutical and device development, with expertise in a broad range of ophthalmic indications and offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan

Simon Kaja

CSO, Experimentica Ltd

<p>Dr. Kaja joined Experimentica Ltd. as Chief Scientific Officer and Director North American Operations in August 2014. Dr. Kaja holds an academic appointment as Endowed Professor of Ophthalmology at Loyola University Chicago. He has previously held numerous positions in academia, biotech companies and the pharmaceutical industry and is a frequent consultant on drug discovery for ophthalmic disorders. In addition to his internationally recognized work on neurodegeneration and glaucoma, Dr. Kaja has significantly contributed to drug development for dry-eye disease and our understanding of the pathophysiology of migraine. Dr. Kaja earned his B.Sc. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Durham University (United Kingdom) and his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Leiden University (The Netherlands). <br /> &nbsp;</p>

Soraya Bekkali

CEO, Gyroscope Therapeutics

Soraya Bekkali is a board-certified MD graduated from Paris University specialized in Clinical Pharmacology and Biostatistics with 20 years of experience in Drug Development.
She started her career in the academia before joining the industry with Orphan Europe, in the rare disease space. She then joined Sanofi for 9 years where she held increasing leadership positions within global R&D, leading gene therapy programs in cardiovascular and Ophthalmology. She took over the leadership of the Ophthalmology Division in 2012 and in this capacity, drove Sanofi strategy towards ocular gene therapy efforts while setting up a multidisciplinary R&D and business organization. In 2015, Soraya served as SVP CMO at Lysogene, a biotech developing gene therapy treatment for rare CNS disorders. As a member of the executive team, she contributed to the successful listing of Lysogene on the European Stock Exchange Euronext. Mid 2017, Soraya Bekkali was appointed at CEO and Director of the board of Gyroscope Therapeutics Ltd, a private company founded by Syncona and Cambridge Enterprise and supported by its scientific founders with expertise in ophthalmology, immunology and gene therapy.
The company is headquartered the UK. Its mission is to develop genetically-defined therapies for the treatment of eye diseases linked to an unbalanced complement system, such as dry age related macular degeneration using gene therapy as a mode of treatment delivery.

Victor Chong

Sponsors and Exhibitors

View detailsAERO PUMP Sponsors and Exhibitorshttp://www.aeropump.deAERO PUMP is a leading manufacturer of preservative-free eye dropper devices.
Our Ophthalmic Multidose System is widely established in the OTC and Rx market.
The 3K-technology avoids microbiological contamination inside the container without the need of preservatives in the formulation.
Its exact metered dosing pump delivers an accurate drop size.

View detailsExperimentica Ltd. Sponsors and Exhibitorshttp://www.experimentica.comExperimentica Ltd. is a Finland-based contract research organisation (CRO) dedicated to developing and offering preclinical ocular models and services to clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech and academic sectors. Founded in 2013 Experimentica Ltd. offers exclusively in-house expertise and an industry-leading portfolio of functional assays and in vivo imaging for preclinical ocular models. The mission of Experimentica Ltd. is to bridge a gap between the development of novel ocular models and their use in developing clinical applications.

View detailsNemeraSponsors and Exhibitorshttp://www.nemera.netNemera is a world leader in the design, development and manufacturing of drug delivery devices for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology & generics industries.
Nemera always puts patients first, providing services and products for several key delivery routes: Parenteral, Ophthalmic, Nasal, Buccal, Auricular, Inhalation, Dermal/Transdermal.
Nemera leverages decades of experience in the parenteral device segment from full development to pure contract manufacturing, through customized solutions.
Nemera developed:
- Safe’n’Sound®, a fully passive safety device for prefilled syringes to avoid accidental needle-sticks.
- Safelia®, a new generation of 2-steps auto-injector for fluid and viscous formulations.

View detailsOraSponsors and Exhibitorshttp://www.oraclinical.com Ora is a global full-service ophthalmic clinical and preclinical CRO with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. Ora supports all organizations, from start-ups to global pharmaceutical and device companies. In addition to turnkey CRO services, we provide strategic guidance and project execution in the regulatory, pre-clinical and CMC stages. Ora has also developed validated clinical models that are accepted as regulatory endpoints in allergy, dry eye and retina. We have a track record for accelerating development timelines and helping our clients garner 47 FDA approvals over the past 40 years. For more information, please visit www.oraclinical.com.

Lead Media Partner

eyetube

Lead Media Partners

Eyetube.net is ophthalmology’s leading source for high-quality, full-narrated ophthalmic surgical videos. The Web site was created by a panel of experts to better educate ophthalmologists through the online archiving and sharing of videos. Our mission is to foster a secure, engaging physician community across all sub-specialties powered by user-generated content, whether it be videos, discussion threads, or blogs.

eyewiretoday

Lead Media Partners

Eyewiretoday.com is unique in that it is devoted to covering the news of the ophthalmic industry, not just the latest medical procedures.
Eyewiretoday.com, which is part of Bryn Mawr Vision Group, will post stories as they happen and will update breaking news throughout the day. The staff at Eyewiretoday.com will scour newspapers, blogs, medical journals, vision publications, and academic and medical studies to provide readers the latest vision news. Whether it is a pharmaceutical company receiving FDA approval for a new drug, launch of a new device, a company hiring a new CEO, or an acquisition, Eyewiretoday.com will quickly post the news in a clear and concise manner.

Ophthalmology Times Europe

Lead Media Partners

Ophthalmology Times Europe, is a physician-driven media brand that presents cutting-edge advancements from around the world in surgery, clinical diagnosis, drug therapy, and technology to elevate the delivery of progressive eye health from physician to patient.

Official Online Media Partners

View detailstouchOPHTHALMOLOGYOfficial Online Media Partnershttp://www.touchophthalmology.com/touchOPHTHALMOLOGY.com is an independent information resource designed to support physicians, clinicians and related healthcare professionals in continuously developing their knowledge, effectiveness and productivity, with open access articles and multimedia content. touchOPHTHALMOLOGY.com is an independent information resource designed to support physicians, clinicians and related healthcare professionals in continuously developing their knowledge, effectiveness and productivity, with open access articles and multimedia content.

Supporting Media Partners

Supporters

View detailsBiocompareSupportershttp://www.biocompare.comBiocompare.com is the leading resource for up-to-date product information, product reviews, and new technologies for life scientists. Biocompare combines an in-depth knowledge of life science products and new technologies with the power of the Internet to offer scientists the most dynamic, relevant, and innovative media-based marketplace for life science information.

View detailsCLocateSupportershttp://www.clocate.comClocate.com is a leading international directory for worldwide conferences and exhibitions. Clocate.com is equipped with a unique and comprehensive search that helps you find easily any event in any category or location. Each event includes detailed information, like, description, dates, location, map, prices, link to the official event's website and more...

View detailsDrug Discovery TodaySupportershttp://www.drugdiscoverytoday.com/Drug Discovery Today is one of the most cited review journals in the field of drug discovery, with an impact factor of 6.422.Drug Discovery Today will benefit your research by helping to keep you up-to-date with all of the fast-moving and emerging topics in drug discovery. Each issue is packed full of the latest research news, peer-reviewed articles and comment and opinion from leading research scientists.

View detailsDrug Target ReviewSupportershttp://www.drugtargetreview.comDrug Target Review’s quarterly magazine, website and annual events program provides high quality content with peer-written articles that are submitted exclusively by the world’s most respected scientists in their field. This attracts a committed base of readers, users and delegates made up of senior decision-makers from the life science and drug discovery industries at the top pharmaceutical companies, as well as academics and scientists from the top research institutes across the globe.

View detailsFarmavitaSupportershttp://www.farmavita.net/Farmavita Net is professional community and network of pharmaceutical licensing and business development executives, innovators and researchers Farmavita.Net is the pharmaceutical licensing, technology transfer and regulatory affairs network. We are managing the marketplace of offers and demand for pharmaceutical Dossiers, know-how and technologies. Members of Farmavita.Net network usually find a number of attractive solutions for business development, alliances, joint ventures, co-development and co-marketing of pharmaceutical products. Farmavita.Net is not just a pure Internet portal. We manage a number of regional associates. We are connecting the dynamic network of few hundreds members / pharmaceutical companies interested in license-in and license-out opportunities.

View detailsGate2BiotechSupportershttp://www.gate2biotech.comGate2Biotech is a portal that unites biotechnological community in Central Europe. It covers all the news in the field of biotechnology. Thanks to the the portal the companies engaged in the field can easily search for research institutions and other partners to solve technical problems they are facing and here they can also present their services offer to potential partners from the Czech Republic and abroad. Gate2Biotech portal serves as a bridge connecting scientific and commercial sector. It incorporates offices and support organizations dedicated to promoting transfer of innovative technologies into a unified communication platform of Czech and international biotechnologies. As a mediator of information it draws attention to biotechnologies and support of their application and transfer into practice. It also functions as a tool for encouraging non-professionals (especially scientists and students) towards innovative business or applied research.

View detailsGBISupportershttp://www.gbihealth.com/GBI is an information, applications, and services company focused on the healthcare industry. Leveraging data from across the healthcare value chain, GBI creates web and mobile applications that enable individuals and organizations to make better decisions and communicate more effectively.

View detailsJournal for Clinical Studies – Your Resource for Multisite Studies & Emerging MarketsSupportershttp://www.JforCS.comPublished bi-monthly.JCS is a unique journal, dedicated to providing information to the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices and contract research organisations. JCS details practical and theoretical operational procedures, challenges, validatory and regulatory guidelines when conducting trials on a multisite basis and particularly within the emerging markets, naïve patient population, and remote access areas. JCS provides country by country objectives and uniquely brings you experiences in therapeutic areas of Liver diseases, kidney diseases, insect borne diseases, malnutrition and under nutrition. JCS is led by a strong editorial advisory board sourced out for their experiences; you will get the most practical insight for your global studies. JCS invites you to join us, write for us, feature your experiences with us, advertise your capabilities with us, and ask our advisory board for suggestions and guidelines. Let us make health care available to all.

View detailsONdrugDelivery MagazineSupportershttp://ondrugdelivery.comONdrugDelivery Magazine is the highly regarded, world-leading series of sponsored themed drug delivery publications. Uniquely, each issue focuses tightly on one topic within the field of drug delivery. With a truly global readership already in excess of 40,000, and with contributions and loyal support from many of the most important companies in the drug delivery business - from among the largest to the smallest - ONdrugDelivery Magazine is a must for those in the industry who need to know what's going on in drug delivery.

View detailsPharmalicensingSupportershttp://www.pharmalicensing.comPharmalicensing (www.pharmalicensing.com) is the premier biopharmaceutical Open Innovation resource designed for professionals involved with partnering, licensing and business development worldwide.
Actively supporting all forms of partnering and in- and out-licensing activities, Pharmalicensing utilizes the unique online Showcase Profiling & Discover services, as well as its renowned Partnering Search service leveraging its global network of industry experts, to enable companies to identify and engage with appropriate partners around the world.
Pharmalicensing is actively utilized by many tens of thousands of industry professionals each month. Pharmalicensing is a division of Cognis Group, Inc.

View detailsPharmavisionSupportershttp://www.pharmavision.co.ukPharmaVision offers a consultancy service providing independent pharmaceutical thematic research to the healthcare industry, the investment community and competitive intelligence specialists. We perform due diligence research and provide expert commentary in healthcare. Our reports combine scientific analysis in drug delivery, R&D technologies and pharmaceutical products including patient modelling, product/technology forecasts and market trends evaluation.

View detailsSwiss Biotech AssociationSupportershttp://www.swissbiotech.org/The Swiss Biotech Association (SBA) is the national industry association for biotechnology, including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, agriculture, food, cosmetics, environmental biotechnology, and specialty chemicals. Members are companies active in modern biotechnology, such as R&D, Production, Marketing and Sales, Finance, Services and Consulting. SBA provides a networking platform for Life Science clusters, academic and federal institutions the like. Founded in March 1998, the Association grows steadily.

View detailsTechnology NetworksSupportershttp://go.technologynetworks.com/subscribe-to-newslettersFounded in 2000, Technology Networks is established as the leading news provider for life science and drug discovery professionals. In addition, we provide unique content including webcasts, videos, application notes and posters from recent conferences. Our portfolio now includes around 30 focussed scientific communities, all of which are accessible free of charge within TechnologyNetworks.com

Workshops

Workshop

VENUE

Copthorne Tara Hotel

Scarsdale Place, Kensington, London, United Kingdom

The Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington is an elegant contemporary four-star hotel in prestigious Kensington, located just a two minutes walk from High Street Kensington underground station, making exploring easy. The hotel offers well-appointed and comfortable guest rooms combining Standard, Superior and Club accommodation. Club rooms offer iconic views over the city and include Club Lounge access for complimentary breakfast and refreshments. Guests can sample the authentic Singaporean, Malaysian and Chinese cuisine at Bugis Street, traditional pub fare at the Brasserie Restaurant & Bar or relax with a delicious drink at West8 Cocktail Lounge & Bar.

The Copthorne Tara Hotel boasts 745 square meters of flexible meeting space, consisting of the Shannon Suite and the Liffey Suite, ideal for hosting conferences, weddings and social events. Facilities include access to the business centre 24 hours a day, fully equipped fitness room, gift shop, theatre desk and Bureau de Change. With ample onsite parking outside the London congestion charge zone and excellent transport links via Heathrow Airport, the hotel is the perfect location for business or leisure stays. The hotel is within close proximity to the shops of High Street Kensington, Knightsbridge and Westfield London, Olympia Conference Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Palace and Hyde Park.

[2017 ATTENDEE LIST] - OPHTHALMIC DRUGS

Sponsors and Exhibitors

AERO PUMP

AERO PUMP is a leading manufacturer of preservative-free eye dropper devices.
Our Ophthalmic Multidose System is widely established in the OTC and Rx market.
The 3K-technology avoids microbiological contamination inside the container without the need of preservatives in the formulation.
Its exact metered dosing pump delivers an accurate drop size.

Experimentica Ltd.

Experimentica Ltd. is a Finland-based contract research organisation (CRO) dedicated to developing and offering preclinical ocular models and services to clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech and academic sectors. Founded in 2013 Experimentica Ltd. offers exclusively in-house expertise and an industry-leading portfolio of functional assays and in vivo imaging for preclinical ocular models. The mission of Experimentica Ltd. is to bridge a gap between the development of novel ocular models and their use in developing clinical applications.

Ora

Ora is a global full-service ophthalmic clinical and preclinical CRO with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. Ora supports all organizations, from start-ups to global pharmaceutical and device companies. In addition to turnkey CRO services, we provide strategic guidance and project execution in the regulatory, pre-clinical and CMC stages. Ora has also developed validated clinical models that are accepted as regulatory endpoints in allergy, dry eye and retina. We have a track record for accelerating development timelines and helping our clients garner 47 FDA approvals over the past 40 years. For more information, please visit www.oraclinical.com.

Media Partners

touchOPHTHALMOLOGY

touchOPHTHALMOLOGY.com is an independent information resource designed to support physicians, clinicians and related healthcare professionals in continuously developing their knowledge, effectiveness and productivity, with open access articles and multimedia content. touchOPHTHALMOLOGY.com is an independent information resource designed to support physicians, clinicians and related healthcare professionals in continuously developing their knowledge, effectiveness and productivity, with open access articles and multimedia content.

Media Partners

Gene Therapy Net

Media Partners

Drug Discovery Today

Drug Discovery Today is one of the most cited review journals in the field of drug discovery, with an impact factor of 6.422.Drug Discovery Today will benefit your research by helping to keep you up-to-date with all of the fast-moving and emerging topics in drug discovery. Each issue is packed full of the latest research news, peer-reviewed articles and comment and opinion from leading research scientists.

Farmavita

Farmavita Net is professional community and network of pharmaceutical licensing and business development executives, innovators and researchers Farmavita.Net is the pharmaceutical licensing, technology transfer and regulatory affairs network. We are managing the marketplace of offers and demand for pharmaceutical Dossiers, know-how and technologies. Members of Farmavita.Net network usually find a number of attractive solutions for business development, alliances, joint ventures, co-development and co-marketing of pharmaceutical products. Farmavita.Net is not just a pure Internet portal. We manage a number of regional associates. We are connecting the dynamic network of few hundreds members / pharmaceutical companies interested in license-in and license-out opportunities.

CLocate

Clocate.com is a leading international directory for worldwide conferences and exhibitions. Clocate.com is equipped with a unique and comprehensive search that helps you find easily any event in any category or location. Each event includes detailed information, like, description, dates, location, map, prices, link to the official event's website and more...

ONdrugDelivery Magazine

ONdrugDelivery Magazine is the highly regarded, world-leading series of sponsored themed drug delivery publications. Uniquely, each issue focuses tightly on one topic within the field of drug delivery. With a truly global readership already in excess of 40,000, and with contributions and loyal support from many of the most important companies in the drug delivery business - from among the largest to the smallest - ONdrugDelivery Magazine is a must for those in the industry who need to know what's going on in drug delivery.

Published bi-monthly.JCS is a unique journal, dedicated to providing information to the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices and contract research organisations. JCS details practical and theoretical operational procedures, challenges, validatory and regulatory guidelines when conducting trials on a multisite basis and particularly within the emerging markets, naïve patient population, and remote access areas. JCS provides country by country objectives and uniquely brings you experiences in therapeutic areas of Liver diseases, kidney diseases, insect borne diseases, malnutrition and under nutrition. JCS is led by a strong editorial advisory board sourced out for their experiences; you will get the most practical insight for your global studies. JCS invites you to join us, write for us, feature your experiences with us, advertise your capabilities with us, and ask our advisory board for suggestions and guidelines. Let us make health care available to all.

Technology Networks

Founded in 2000, Technology Networks is established as the leading news provider for life science and drug discovery professionals. In addition, we provide unique content including webcasts, videos, application notes and posters from recent conferences. Our portfolio now includes around 30 focussed scientific communities, all of which are accessible free of charge within TechnologyNetworks.com

Biocompare

Biocompare.com is the leading resource for up-to-date product information, product reviews, and new technologies for life scientists. Biocompare combines an in-depth knowledge of life science products and new technologies with the power of the Internet to offer scientists the most dynamic, relevant, and innovative media-based marketplace for life science information.

World Pharma News

Swiss Biotech Association

The Swiss Biotech Association (SBA) is the national industry association for biotechnology, including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, agriculture, food, cosmetics, environmental biotechnology, and specialty chemicals. Members are companies active in modern biotechnology, such as R&D, Production, Marketing and Sales, Finance, Services and Consulting. SBA provides a networking platform for Life Science clusters, academic and federal institutions the like. Founded in March 1998, the Association grows steadily.

Pharmalicensing

Pharmalicensing (www.pharmalicensing.com) is the premier biopharmaceutical Open Innovation resource designed for professionals involved with partnering, licensing and business development worldwide.
Actively supporting all forms of partnering and in- and out-licensing activities, Pharmalicensing utilizes the unique online Showcase Profiling & Discover services, as well as its renowned Partnering Search service leveraging its global network of industry experts, to enable companies to identify and engage with appropriate partners around the world.
Pharmalicensing is actively utilized by many tens of thousands of industry professionals each month. Pharmalicensing is a division of Cognis Group, Inc.

Gate2Biotech

Gate2Biotech is a portal that unites biotechnological community in Central Europe. It covers all the news in the field of biotechnology. Thanks to the the portal the companies engaged in the field can easily search for research institutions and other partners to solve technical problems they are facing and here they can also present their services offer to potential partners from the Czech Republic and abroad. Gate2Biotech portal serves as a bridge connecting scientific and commercial sector. It incorporates offices and support organizations dedicated to promoting transfer of innovative technologies into a unified communication platform of Czech and international biotechnologies. As a mediator of information it draws attention to biotechnologies and support of their application and transfer into practice. It also functions as a tool for encouraging non-professionals (especially scientists and students) towards innovative business or applied research.

GBI

GBI is an information, applications, and services company focused on the healthcare industry. Leveraging data from across the healthcare value chain, GBI creates web and mobile applications that enable individuals and organizations to make better decisions and communicate more effectively.

Drug Target Review

Drug Target Review’s quarterly magazine, website and annual events program provides high quality content with peer-written articles that are submitted exclusively by the world’s most respected scientists in their field. This attracts a committed base of readers, users and delegates made up of senior decision-makers from the life science and drug discovery industries at the top pharmaceutical companies, as well as academics and scientists from the top research institutes across the globe.

SAVE TO

Copthorne Tara Hotel

Scarsdale Place
Kensington
London W8 5SR
United Kingdom

The Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington is an elegant contemporary four-star hotel in prestigious Kensington, located just a two minutes walk from High Street Kensington underground station, making exploring easy. The hotel offers well-appointed and comfortable guest rooms combining Standard, Superior and Club accommodation. Club rooms offer iconic views over the city and include Club Lounge access for complimentary breakfast and refreshments. Guests can sample the authentic Singaporean, Malaysian and Chinese cuisine at Bugis Street, traditional pub fare at the Brasserie Restaurant & Bar or relax with a delicious drink at West8 Cocktail Lounge & Bar.

The Copthorne Tara Hotel boasts 745 square meters of flexible meeting space, consisting of the Shannon Suite and the Liffey Suite, ideal for hosting conferences, weddings and social events. Facilities include access to the business centre 24 hours a day, fully equipped fitness room, gift shop, theatre desk and Bureau de Change. With ample onsite parking outside the London congestion charge zone and excellent transport links via Heathrow Airport, the hotel is the perfect location for business or leisure stays. The hotel is within close proximity to the shops of High Street Kensington, Knightsbridge and Westfield London, Olympia Conference Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Palace and Hyde Park.

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WHAT IS CPD?

CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development’. It is essentially a philosophy,
which maintains that in order to be effective, learning should be organised and
structured. The most common definition is:

‘A commitment to structured skills and knowledge enhancement for Personal or Professional
competence’

CPD is a common requirement of individual membership with professional bodies and
Institutes. Increasingly, employers also expect their staff to undertake regular
CPD activities.

Undertaken over a period of time, CPD ensures that educational qualifications do
not become obsolete, and allows for best practice and professional standards to
be upheld.

CPD can be undertaken through a variety of learning activities including instructor
led training courses, seminars and conferences, e:learning modules or structured
reading.

CPD AND PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTES

There are approximately 470 institutes in the UK across all industry sectors, with
a collective membership of circa 4 million professionals, and they all expect their
members to undertake CPD.

For some institutes undertaking CPD is mandatory e.g. accountancy and law, and linked
to a licence to practice, for others it’s obligatory. By ensuring that their members
undertake CPD, the professional bodies seek to ensure that professional standards,
legislative awareness and ethical practices are maintained.

CPD Schemes often run over the period of a year and the institutes generally provide
online tools for their members to record and reflect on their CPD activities.

TYPICAL CPD SCHEMES AND RECORDING OF CPD (CPD points and hours)

Professional bodies and Institutes CPD schemes are either structured as ‘Input’
or ‘Output’ based.

‘Input’ based schemes list a precise number of CPD hours that individuals must achieve
within a given time period. These schemes can also use different ‘currencies’ such
as points, merits, units or credits, where an individual must accumulate the number
required. These currencies are usually based on time i.e. 1 CPD point = 1 hour of
learning.

‘Output’ based schemes are learner centred. They require individuals to set learning
goals that align to professional competencies, or personal development objectives.
These schemes also list different ways to achieve the learning goals e.g. training
courses, seminars or e:learning, which enables an individual to complete their CPD
through their preferred mode of learning.

As a formal provider of CPD certified activities, SMI Group can provide an indication
of the learning benefit gained and the typical completion. However, it is ultimately
the responsibility of the delegate to evaluate their learning, and record it correctly
in line with their professional body’s or employers requirements.

GLOBAL CPD

Increasingly, international and emerging markets are ‘professionalising’ their workforces
and looking to the UK to benchmark educational standards. The undertaking of CPD
is now increasingly expected of any individual employed within today’s global marketplace.

CPD Certificates

We can provide a certificate for all our accredited events. To request a CPD certificate for a conference , workshop, master classes you have attended please email events@smi-online.co.uk